Addison-ism's

My child is very vocal. Jordan and I were talking about her development and looked online to see some kind of stats on what a 21/22 month old should be able to do. It said they should be able to say around 30 words. I'd say that she knows well over 100 words and their meanings not including what she can repeat on demand. She says the funniest things as she's exploring her vocabulary and learning to form sentences. Here are a few things she's been saying that I want to remember. She really makes me laugh! :)

* While riding in the car, Addison apparently saw a bird because she suddenly says, "Bird! Tweet, tweet! Caaaw, Caaaw!"

* Addison labels most loud engine-y noises as airplanes (eh-paaane!) and looks up and says "upupupup in da sky!"

* We were on our way to the outer banks last weekend (a post with pictures will come soon!) we went across one of the long bridges over the sound to the island. All you could see was water and Addison looks to left and says "Wa-er!!" then she looks to her right and exclaims "TWO wa-ers!"

* Addison is learning to count. She's getting better with it but you have to start with One, two, three and she'll say four and five sometimes six or waits for you to say six then says seven and eight. The nine and ten don't normally happen, although she did she "seben, eigh, Nana" the other day, so that was getting close! :)

* Anytime we go past a pasture with pretty much any type of animal, Addison tells me that it's a "Moo-tow!" She loves Moo-Cows! and giddy-ups (horses), and bak-baks (chickens), and sheep! pretty much all farm animals!

* One of her favorite things is to request songs that she wants us to sing to her. When she's really sleepy and clingy she asks for "hush-il-baby" (Hush Little Baby). She asks for "E-I-O" (Old MacDonald had a Farm), "March!" (either If You're Happy and You Know It or Lord's Army which she also calls "yessir!"), "Sessame" (Jesus Loves Me), "Issy Spyr" (The Itsy Bitsy Spider ...she loves the hand signs and grins and giggles while you're singing!). I'm sure there are other songs she requests but I can't think of them right now.

* My little sweetie is repeating everything she hears now! We really have to be careful what we let her hear on the TV and the radio (or what we say... I don't really want my almost-two-year-old says "Dang" or "Oh my gosh!").

* This is one of the funniest things she's said...and so smart! We were sitting in my bedroom and Addison found a nearly empty ibuprofen bottle and started throwing it, saying "Addison fow it!". Jordan and I both scolded her about throwing and took it away from her when she continued to do it. She cried so I told her she could have it back, but if she threw it one more time, I would take it away for good. She nodded and held it tightly to her chest. She was walking around with it when she looked at me and says "Daddy said fow it..." She was totally making that up and testing me with it! We laughed so hard and when I finally stopped laughing, had to tell her that NO, Daddy did not say that she could throw it! Funny Girl!

* This doesn't really have a lot to do with Addison talking but she is getting close to being able to start the potty-training process. She sees me potty and has to get her little potty and set it right next to the toilet. She then sits on it and will smile up at me then pause for a minute and tell me "Addison pee pee!" Now, I have no idea whether she's actually peeing at that moment or not since she's fully diapered and clothed. But she tells us immediately when she poops and she is definitely interested in the potty process. I think in the next few months we'll really start to get serious about it. I'm not going to push it too much yet since she's not even two yet. My goal would be to have her potty trained by the time she's 2 1/2. We'll see.

* I'm getting ready to make the switch to a size 4 diaper for her. She's been in a 3 for probably over a year now and it still fits pretty well but it starting to get kind of snug so I think the 4 will definitely be more comfy for her!

* When she's running away from me or doing something that she shouldn't be I'll call out "Addison Kate!" and she repeats it, which is just super cute! "A-i-son Tate!" We got her to say Addison Cline for a while and then she would say "Mommy Cline, Daddy Cline, Nana Cline, Papaw Cline" (all of which were right)"then "Grandee Cline, Papaw Cline, Kyla (Lyla) Cline" (which were not right, but it was cute!)

She's such a sweet girl and has started asking for hugs when she's saying goodbye. It's really cute and I am so hoping that she will continue to become more and more snuggly! I love some sweet Addison snuggles!

POP!

So.... I popped Addison's (diapered) butt for the first time yesterday. It was effective! We were fixing supper while Addison was sitting in her high chair and had just finished eating her yogurt. I guess she was bored just sitting there so she started squealing. loudly. and often. So I got on to her and told her she was being "not nice" (a term she understands). I said this to her several times and as I was getting her out of the high chair and the squealing was continuing, I told her that if she squealed/screamed one more time then I was going to pop her butt. I knew she was testing me and seeing how far she could take it (the look she gave me as she was squealing was very telling). So she waited a minute or two and then gave a loud but short squeal. I came over to her and barely popped her. She broke down, cried and made a big deal for about 10 seconds. She went running to her Daddy then came right back over to me and wanted me to hold her. After about a minute of resting her little head on my shoulder she wanted to get down and play tea in her room.

The spanking worked (she didn't squeal for the rest of the night) and it didn't make me feel horrible. I was nervous but knew that if I threatened to pop and then didn't follow through after she misbehaved again, it would be very counter-productive. Jordan saw the whole thing and didn't really comment until later that evening when Addison was whining over something, he said "Don't mess with Mommy, she's tough!" I think he was surprised I had the nerve to actually pop her, though he's not against it. I can't really see him spanking her though. He's a softie!

Moving on...

I never blogged about the concert last weekend. It was fun, although had some rocky spots. We got to Charlotte fine and got a good (tiny) parking spot near the venue. We ate dinner (which was really yummy) then waited in line for about 30 minutes before going inside. about an hour later the opening band started their thing and I started feeling super sick on my stomach! I pretty much spent the whole opening act (don't worry, I really didn't miss much there...if you get what I'm saying) either laying int he car or in the bathroom. Fun times. :( But by the time Jimmy Eat World took the stage I was feeling quite a bit better. The only two songs that I knew ("The Middle" and "Sweetness") were saved for the encore and were awesome! I sang/yelled along with every word and jumped up and down and nearly got trampled by some guys standing next to us, but it was great. The last five minutes were awesome! We didn't get back home until about 12:45 and I went straight to bed! I've decided that if I go to another concert, it will be to see a group or an artist that I love and own several CDs of and all of whose songs I know well. Jimmy Eat World was great but the best part is when you can sing along with them, I for the first hour I couldn't do that because I didn't know any of the songs.

We had a good Valentine's Day on Monday even though Jordan and I didn't really do much in the way of celebration. We exchanged cards on Sunday night and then didn't make any definitive plans to have a date night. Jordan wrote sweet things in my card and told me he owed me dinner and a bead (a Pandora bead, in case you were wondering. I got the bracelet for Christmas and now almost have it full...I may have gone a bit over board with the bead purchasing, but don't tell Jordan and I just admitted to it...). I got my bead (love it!) on Monday along with some cute, happy tulips and we're doing dinner tomorrow night (at Carrabba's...yum!). We eat out a lot but we don't normally go without Addison, so tomorrow will feel more like a date!

I hope y'all have a good week!

Fingernail Polish and Rock Concerts (among many other things)

I think I have a new favorite lunch routine! I get an hour lunch break everyday and I spend it differently each day. Sometimes I got out to eat with whichever coworker has the same lunch hour as I do. Sometimes I eat on the go and run errands the whole time, which is not relaxing and I normally come back to work very frazzled but with a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes I shop and sometimes I sit in an unused office, eating a sandwich while reading or surfing the internet. Most of the time my lunch break has little to do with actual eating (although you know I love to eat and never skip out on it).

So my new favorite thing to do is to eat quickly then go and get my nails painted! I love to have polish on my fingernails but I do a very crappy job when attempting painting them at home, so I pay to have it done. I could go after work or on the weekends but then the problem of what-to-do-with-an-active-toddler-while-waiting-on-polish-to-dry arises and I hate to get someone else to watch her even more than I already have to. So I've decided that if I want to pamper myself with a quick fingernail polish application then my lunch hour is the ideal (if not only) time to do it. So that's what I've been doing once a week for the past two weeks (Today I got dark purple! Love it!). It's fun and I don't get mommy guilt over spending time away from Addison since I wouldn't be seeing her then anyways.

On another note, tomorrow I'm going with Kyla and my friend, Jessica to a Jimmy Eat World concert. None of my coworkers know who this band is unless I sing the chorus from "The Middle" and then they recognize the song. I'm excited about going, but kind of nervous. Not because I'm going to be away from my baby for a whole evening/night (she'll be with Jordan-and I'm not nervous about him with her either), or because I'm scared I won't have fun with the girls I'm going with, but I think it's because I've never been to a concert that wasn't a Christian band before and I'm not always a fan of loud, crowded places, and being in the city makes me uncomfortable (we're going to Charlotte-which, since I know you are wondering, is the largest city in NC with a population of 750k, according to Kyla). I don't think I'm going to be driving so that cuts out my fear of showing off my not-so-discreet terrible parallel parking skills. I think it's going to be fun and it will definitely be something out of my normal weekend activities (those include watching Pooh bear with Addison, going to Walmart with Addison and trying to catch up on dish washing, laundry, and DVRed shows from the previous week, with the occasional nap thrown in the mix-I know, I'm such a wild woman!)

My cousin Zach come up from Georgia last weekend and spent a few days with us. We had a low-key weekend, watching Airplane and Despicable Me (both of which were funny but in a very, very different way!) and playing some Rock Band. Addison made him have a tea party with her and also demanded much of his attention while she was awake, saying his name over and over again. I think she must have remembered him from past visits because she was almost immediately comfortable with him, where it normally takes her a little while to warm up to new people. I'm glad he got to come for a bit. It was a fun weekend!

I'm trying to keep myself busy for the next little while so that I don't think too much of what I'm missing out on. My would've/should've been due date is coming up on Monday and it makes me sad to think about. I'm just trying hard to not think too much of it and to stay happy while focusing on all the wonderful blessings God has put in my life. Addison keeps me smiling and laughing and Jordan and I are in a great place, so I have much to be thankful for.

We have, in a (possible) moment of insanity, put our house on the market. So that means we have to try to keep it as clean as possible for the random, unplanned showings that will (hopefully) happen. It's been a week and so far no bites but we are staying optimistic. We bought the house last year with intentions of selling it when the market went up again. It hasn't yet really, but we thought we'd just see what happens. I would love to sell it really soon, but if we don't it's not a huge deal. We may or may not have already picked out a house with a great location that we would love to move into and we may or may not have already thought of what we would do to personalize and upgrade the interior. Maybe. :) We're just praying about it (among other things) and waiting to see what God makes happen in our lives.

I think that's all I have for today. I'll keep you updated on how the concert turns out...Hope you have a great weekend!

Addison pictures that I just found

Here are some pictures that I had uploaded to blogger for a post over the summer and never got around to finishing it. These are from some time in June when we to Kerr Scott Lake for a day trip to visit with Jordan's family (his parents were camping out there and the rest of us drove up to meet them). Addison was just over a year old and she was having a ball eating/playing with marshmallows. She was such a little ham!

She loved my Gatorade! Would not let go of the bottle. Got upset when she up-ended it and nothing come out. Too little to understand about lids.

We had quite the sticky mess to clean up!

What a cute little serious face! Those eyes get me every time! :)
She had such fun feeding her Daddy.

I love looking back at pictures of her from months before. I don't realize just how much she's changed and grown into a cute little girl instead of my adorable baby. I love the fat rolls on her short little arms and her wispy barely-there hair! She was and still is such an expressive child. People comment about that all the time (which I think is funny because Addison is all I know as far as children go, so I always just think that all babies do the same things she does. I guess not?)

Enjoy these lost photos!

All About Addison

(Yes, I have an Addison Obsession. And, Yes, she is the only thing I have to talk about...ever) Addison is becoming such a big girl! She is so sweet and just hilarious to watch. Here are some Addison-isms:

* She can answer you when you ask what her name is and you can actually tell what she's saying (for the most part anyway...sounds kind of like "Aa-i-sin" if you say it really fast). She used to say "Addie (Aa-EE)". Where's my baby gone?

* Last week Jordan, Kyla, Addison and I went out to eat (Chang Thai-new Thai place we discovered which is so, so good! Addison spent the whole car ride saying "Chang Thai!" in the cutest little voice) and on the way home Jordan burped really loud. Kyla responded with an enthusiastic "Niiiiice!" to which Addison promptly repeated. Kyla and Jordan thought that it was hilarious so they kept making themselves burp so Addison would say "nice!" Thankfully she hasn't really done it since so I'm hoping she forgot it (unlikely). We're (or rather...I'm) working on her saying "excuse me" for burps. She knows that when you poot you say excuse me (or "moo me" in Addison-ese). If some around her poots and she hears, she'll suck her breath in and look at you really wide-eyed then laugh, say "moo me!" and then she'll say "Mommy (just for example sake) poo poo!!"

* Addison has a new facial expression that we call her mirror face. She stands in front of the mirror and raises her eyebrows as far as she can and brings her chin against her neck (creating multiple chins) and smile. She holds this face for a few seconds then laughs very dramatically at herself and then repeats the process. This girl is DRAMATIC! Can't wait until her teenage years! (Can you hear my sarcasm?)

* Addison knows how to group our family and friends into pairs or family units. We can ask her "Who does Pat (my aunt) go with?" and she'll say "Giiiinnn!" (Glenn-my uncle). She does this for most of my aunts and uncles or couples that we know. At night when we put her to bed she always prays for everyone she can think of. It's cute because I'll prompt her with a family member when she runs out of people to name and she names the rest of their family. I'll say "Lori" (Jordan's sister) and she repeats (La-wee) then says "Ellett" (Eh-it), "Conner" (Non-nah) and "Brent" (Bent). She looks at me and waits for me to repeat the name before she goes to the next one. We do this with lots of our friends and family. The first name out of her mouth is always "Sylas" (Sy-iss) then "Banyon" (Mam-in) sometimes followed by "Kirby" (Lob-ee) and "Dustin" (Ust-in). Then at the end she always says "Amen!" (several times)


* Speaking of "Amen", this Sunday Addison stayed with me for most of worship (as opposed to going to play in the nursery) so she was in the auditorium for the closing prayer. She stayed quiet and folded her little hands and squeezed her eyes shut, peeking out at me every few seconds. After the man leading the prayer said "amen" and before it got loud with everyone starting to talk, Addison yells "Aaaammennn!" out into the silence. Everyone start looking at her and laughing so that's all I heard about for the afternoon. It was really cute and only a little embarrassing!

* Addison is very much a girly-girl. She loves purses, chap stick and playing tea with her tea set. It's so cute to watch her carry her purse on her arm because it won't stay on her shoulder, so in order to keep it from falling off her little arm, she walks (or rather, she runs) around with her arm up, hand raised. She keeps little nick-knacks in her bag, such as multiple chap sticks, a stick of baby sunscreen that she calls her BIG chapstick, a Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) tiny figurine, Tigger figurine, one of her baby dolls' bottles, and some fake credit cards. She likes to empty everything out and then put it all back in. She also makes anyone who visits our house come to her room and sit down ("Nit Nown" while patting the chair) at her tiny Pooh Bear table so that she can serve them tea. Her favorite thing is for you to say "More, please" ("Mowe, peez" she repeats while grinning) to get a refill from her tea pot. It amazes me how she knew immediately how to "pour" the tea from the pot into the little pink cups and give it out to her "guests". It must be ingrained in her female DNA or something.

* Something else that amazes me is how she plays with her baby dolls or stuffed animals. She was doing one of her puzzles the other day and had her kitty cat with her (by far her favorite of the "babies", the one that she must have along with her night night (blanket) to go to sleep at night) and held the puzzle piece handle in the kitty cat's paw and put it in its spot. Then she looks at the kitty cat and said "Thank you, kitty cat!" (Nay noo, Tiddydat!) then repeated it several times to me including the sign for "thank you" until I realized what she was saying. Now she says it all the time. She also plays tea with her kitty cat by propping it up in the chair and passing the tea cup to it and taking it back saying "thank you kitty cat" and "more please." When I'm rocking her at night (between naming people in the ongoing nightly prayer) she sips on her milk. She has to offer it to her kitty cat and night night, as well as me and the rest on the toys across the room, while she makes sippy noises as we all "drink" her milk. She thinks this is funny but also uses it as a bedtime-delaying tactic. she definitely has a good imagination. She also likes to put chap stick on all her toys (but not really because it's rolled down too far in the tube).

She does tons of funny, cute things and I can't remember them all but I hope these gave you a smile or laugh for the day. :)

And I'm Back

Wow, it's been a long time since I've blogged about anything. We've been busy with life for the past few months and I just haven't had much motivation to write (obviously the holidays weren't motivating me since I missed Addison turning 18 months old, Thanksgiving, Christmas, our Anniversary (6 yrs) and New Year's). Here's some bullet points to cover the past few months.

* Addison turned 18 months (and then 19 months) and I didn't write about what she's been up to, so here goes...Addison is such a sweet girl! She loves to hug and kiss you or her baby dolls/stuffed animals. She went to the doctor in November for her 18 month appointment and is a healthy little girl; her weight is in the 25th percentile, height is in the 50th percentile and her head circumference is in the 80th percentile. She talks non stop and entered a "NO!" phase but fortunately left it behind after just a few weeks. She now has the cutest little "Yeah" and knows that she is super cute, which she totally uses to her advantage. It's so hard to not give into whatever she wants with her big eyes and sweet smile! Addison got TWO baby strollers for her baby dolls and she will tell you all about them if asked. She thought that all wrapped presents were baby dolls so she was slightly disappointed to find out that some of them weren't. She's starting to talk in short sentences and can call all of our family and friends by name. It's very cute.

* We've been staying busy with the car lot. I finally figured out how to make a facebook page for it, (it's PAY HERE AUTO SALES. Feel free to LIKE us). Lots of cars have been sold and the business is doing pretty good. We have fun hanging out with our friends (and business partners) Kirby and Dustin. Addison is in love with their two boys!

* I'm having a hard time coming up with bullet point topics...(sad considering I'm covering 2 months of my life)

* I got a bad cold (immediately preceded by the stomach bug) in the beginning of November and I'm still dealing with it (although it is not bad at all now compared to what it was). Addison had been sick off and on for the same amount of time. She just got over a horrible cough that also coincided with teething. (She has 16 teeth now. Next up? 2 year molars)

* Christmas was lots of fun. We celebrated with Mom and Dad and Kyla on Christmas Eve. I got Kyla a bed pillow which are called "husbands". We had a lot of fun telling people that I got her a husband for Christmas. Lunch on Christmas Day was spent with Mom and Dad and Kyla again (impromptu lunch at the Chinese Restaurant. We waited for the "Fra Ra Ra's" and the turkey with the head still attached, but it never came. :) Gotta love that movie!). It started snowing around noon on Christmas and kept snowing until the next day. We ended up with about 6 inches of snow and it was so beautiful! We had Jordan's family over for dinner and had a great time.

* I'm going to be a New Employee Training (NET) Instructor for my work. I'm kind of excited and nervous about this. It's only for once or twice a year and I'm set to start in February. We'll see...

Here are some pictures from the past few months:

Addison in November wearing an adorable little outfit that my sister and I wore we we were little. My mom made it. She really didn't want her picture made in this one.

But once she got a cracker she was just fine!

This is from Thanksgiving day. She was not liking the camera this day either.

Dena and Ellett on Thanksgiving.

Me and Addison. This was the best we could do for a Thanksgiving family picture. She was screaming by the time that Jordan joined us so we just gave up.

Lori, Jordan and Dena. His two sisters.

The Collins family. Lori, Ellett, Conner, and Brent.

Christmas Eve at my parents house. Addison was loving the baby dolls!

Addison had a pen cap that she was using as a tool to "fix" the Ferris wheel. She really kept herself entertained with it and was very intent on "fixing" it.

Sisters

Not so great family picture!

Addison with her grandparents. Her face in this picture cracks me up.

All of us. Glad Kyla knew how to use the timer on her camera.

Addison on Christmas morning in her new chair that "Santa" brought her. Can you tell she liked it?

Cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Yum!

Addison was really impressed with the purse from GranDee. It came with a wallet, debit card, cell phone and lipstick.

She also really liked the puzzle.

My dad really liked the hat and mittens Addison got! :)

And the both really liked the snow!

Ellett being so sweet and cute later that night!

Lori and Addison (who was trying to wiggle away)

Jordan, his dad and Grandparents with a still wiggly Addison.

Me and my Baby girl!

Christmas family pictureOur house in the snow. And the tree Jordan created with lights.

ABC's of me

I stole this from my friend LeeAnn's blog. I don't have much creativity for coming up with blog posts. I'm sure you've noticed since I've been absent for about 2 months. I'm planning comeback, though, and this doesn't have anything to do with it. It's just fun!

A - Age: 24
B - Bed Size: King
C - Chore you hate: hand washing dishes, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, dusting, oh wait. I thought that said choreS!
D - Dog's name: Tripp, otherwise known as "Bip" in Addisonese
E - Essential start your day item: toilet?
F- Favorite color: umm...Probably blue
G - Gold or Silver: silver most of the time
H - Height: 5'4"
I - Instruments you play(ed): the recorder in 6th grade chorus. And that's it...unless rock band guitar counts. :)
J - Job title: Senior Teller, and MOM
K - Kid(s): Miss Addison Kate
L - Living arrangements: In a house with Jordan and Addison and Tripp
M - Mom's name: D'Lea
N - Nicknames: Jen Dae
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Does this mean when I was birthed or when I was giving birth? either way those would be the only times for me.
P - Pet Peeves: um...know-it-alls
Q - Quote from a movie: "little full, lotta sap" -Clark Griswald in Christmas Vacation
R - Right or left handed: right handed
S - Siblings: one, Kyla
T - Time you wake up: 7:00
U- Underwear: YES and ALWAYS
V - Vegetable you dislike: peas. I really had to think about this one. I like most of them.
W - Ways you run late: not getting up in time, not giving myself as much time as is needed to get everything ready (i.e. making sippy cup and snack for diaper bag, rounding up favorite toys to take with, dressing wiggly toddler, choosing outfit for said wiggly toddler...you choose)
X - X-rays you've had: teeth
Y - Yummy food you make: have to think...(and not because the list is long.) Jordan would say meatloaf...I like my pasta salad.
Z - Zoo favorite: the air-conditioned buildings :) (or the polar bears)